Snap fastener



Patented pr. l0, 1923 nutren stares JULIUS J. BRE-LL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SNAP FASTENER.

Application filed April 11, 1919. Serial No. 289,248.

(GRANTED 'UNIYER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT 0F MARGH 3. 1921, 41 STAT. L., 1313.)

To all wim/m, t may concern:

Be it known that l, JULIUs J. BRELL, a citizen of the United IStates, and resident of the city, county, and State ofNew `York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap Fasteners (for which there were filed on my behalf applications in Germany, J une 11, 1914-, Patent No. 290,542;

Austria, June 11, 1914:, not lyet issued so as known; England, June 12, 1916, Patent No. 105,827/17; France, .lune 15, 191%, -Patent No. 473,520; and Switzerland, May 1l, 1916, Patent No. 73,459), of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce an improved snap fastener possessing the advantageous characteristics hereinafter de scribed. Heretofore the snap fasteners of `the general market have been, speaking gen- 20 erally, in the form of round buttons. silthough these devices, when made for the purpose of attachment to articles of clothing, are made as small as possible within the limits of strength required for the particular object in each case, the size of the fasteners in most instances renders them unsightly and apparently cumbersome. It is one of the objects of this invention to produce a snap fastener which while possessing the actual diameter of the corresponding round buttons and having the full strength thereof, is apparently, when incorporated in the garment, of a very much smaller diam` eter. A fastener of the new-kind, when sewed to a garment, has the appearance of being a most minute object and thus` removes the objection of unsightliness which has been one of the great obstacles to that development of the' use of snap fasteners which their inherent merit entitles them to.

It is a further object of this invention to produce a non-round snap fastener which will have incorporated therein the full quantity of metal which was contained in the blank from which the fastener was madein other words that there is no requirement for any trimming or cutting of the edge of the metal beyond the cut required for separating the blank from the strip of metalfrom which the fastener elements are made. Thus, for example,if beginning with a round blank the turned-over edge is first-drawn to the upstanding position, the edge will be even, but if the button sought to be produced is not round but possesses a wavy irregular shape, the upstanding edge will develop material unevenness, teeth as it were, which would require trimming olf before the edge can be properly rolled down. The smoothing of said edge introduces an element of expense which renders the commercial manufacture of fasteners according to the method described non-economic. I have found that the proper method of manufacturing said fasteners involves the following essential characteristics: first, that the metal should be formed by employing a metal drawing operation rather than a folding or indenting operation; second, that there shall be but one cutting operation and that the cutting operation which severs the blank from the strip; third, that the edge of the outer flange of the button should be substantially even throughout although a slightly undulating line is preferred as aiding in the process of rolling down the said edge; fourth, that all of the metal which is in the blank after the operation of cutting the blank from the strip shall be and remain in the finished fas-tener.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 represents a top plan view of the improved fastener; Fig. 2 represents the same fastener attached to the garment; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an elevation partly in section of a machine capable of forming the blanks; Fig. 5 is an illustrative view of a strip of material used in making the fasteners illustrating certain stages of procedure, and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic top view showing the contour of the blank cut from said strip as it appears prior to the drawing operation, the. apertures and projection of Fig. 5 being omitted from the illustration to avoid confusion of detail.

ln the drawings c, and illustrate respectively the socket and stud members of a snap fastener; c represent the spring carried by the socket member; Z is the continuous rolled over edge extending around the entire perimeter of the fastener and which is given a special and peculiar configuration shown in 1. The rounded edge (Z is there shown as running in a generally circular direction Y 1 turning inwardly, however, at d closely adjacent to the lateral edges of the sewing apertures e and then as at (Z2 progressing in l a direction which although slightly curved approaches as near as may be a straight line. This special conguration results, when the fastener element is sewed to a garment, in what is shown in Fig. 2. In that figure the threads 7 being, like the garment, made of fabric, make practically no impression upon the eye while the snap fastener, in so far as the eye beholds it, is apparently of'a diameter corresponding to a line comiecting Z2 with Z2 whereas actually, of course, the diameter of the snap fastener is that of the line from (Z to (l. lt is important to observe at this point that at d there should be as little material as possible between the edge of the aperture c and the outer edge of the fastener` for if any sub stantial amount of material were left in the fastener at this point the effect aimed at would not be' produced. In other words, the fastener members should have a continuous turned-over edge Z with that part thereof corresponding to d as closely ad jacent as may be to the aperture e while the part thereof designatedas Z2 and which is vnearest the center of the button should be curved as little as possible.

There are several ways of producing the improved fastener. One method, which is the preferred method, will now be described beginning with a strip of metal like that shown attheleft of Fig. 5. Tn other words, a plain strip of metal is used as a starting material.v The next operations involve drawing up the socket la. of the socket member aor the stud of the stud member t, punching the apertures' e and removing certain surplus material between the blanks as indicated at g, Fig. 5.

, for the reason already mentioned that if the blank were round the drawing operation which results in clipping the blank (as shown at lr, (Fig. et) would otherwise bring the material which ultimately becomes Z2 to a very much higher elevation than the balance of the cup edge, which would necessitate a trimming or cutting operation which in small articles of this kind is very dicult andexpensive. By originally cutting the blank in the form shown at ,i in

l Fig. 6,ithe` drawing operation which follows causes the upstanding edge to be substantially of uniform height although in the v particular 'example illustrated there would The blank nowV has a configuration corresponding to thev central portion of Fig. 5.

be a slight undulation on this edge which is of assistance in the later operation of rcliing down said edge. This edge is ultimately rolled down thereby completing the fastener and producing ay continuous rolled edge thereon. ln a fastener thus produced, the upstai'iding and rolled portions will be all about the same radial dimensions, though of course of unequal thickness, according to where the metal has been more or less influenced by the drawing operation. Tn other words, every radial line drawn on -the surface' of the fastener from the inner free edge of the resulting roll to the axis or centre of the fastener is, after subtracting the distance from said axis radially outward to the point where the rolled edge begins to rise, substantially uniform at all points, even though the fastener is of uneven circumferential shape.

Turning now to Fig. 4, which illust-rates the machine, the blank indicated therein to the left of the cupping operation is the blank in the condition shown at the center of Fig. 5, whereas the same strip at the right of Fig. 4L is in the condition at the right of Fig. 5. The machine illustrated comprises the base y' and a sliding feed block is for periodically advancing the strip. That portion of the strip which is immediately above the finished cup blank hy is operated upon by the cutting punch Z coacting with the cutting die m, the cutting punch Z being suitably supported in the cutting punch holder n and actuated by the cutting punch lever 0. The configuration of the cutting elements is obviously that of the blank a' shown in Fig. 6. This blank while non-circular is substantially circular at the spaced parts z" while the lines 2 which connect said circular parts are nearer to the center 'of the blank than said circular portions a" but not as near to said center as are the'indentaticns in the cup which is subsequently formed therefrom. The drawing punch p coacting with the drawing die' g causes'the blank to become cupped as at L. The shape of the drawing punch is such as to produce vthe configuration of the fastener a of Fig. l'. The' circumferentially shaped and cupped blank h of Fig. 4l is forced through the drawing die g against `the form die r and into a disk or dial s. This dial is provided with numerous recesses corresponding to the one in which the cupped blank 7L is shown in Figa and the operation of the machine is such that the dial advances one aperture with each periodical forward feed y of `the metal strip through the 'cutting and drawing of the mechanism. As the dial thus advances the spring c, Fig. 3, is set into the cupped blank 7i and t-he upstanding edge of saidblank is then subjected to a rollingoperation which Jams the metal down and causes it to curl over and upon the spring c or, where no spring is employed, upon the metal base of the fastener element. The slightly undulating upper edge of the cup blank h is, as already stated, of advantage for if instead of being undulated said edge were formed into upstanding portions, as in the case where the original blank is round, those upstanding edges being acted on first by the rolling mechanism would be rolled down first, if they were not removed, and being completed in the form of a roll would thus form an obstacle to the further rolling down of metal located adjacent to that part of the up-standing iange which corresponds to d of Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that in the manufacture of this type of snap fastener the spring c must be given appropriate configuration. When the spring is shaped as shown in Fig. l, it is obvious that in the formation of the fastener the inwardly bent portions corresponding to (Z2 will serve in the manufacture of the button to act as an automatic positioning means. The spring c, once it is placed within the shaped cup h, F ig. 4;, will not be able to shift laterally with respect to the sewing apertures e, as would be the case if the button were round. rI he spring c, whether its free end is formed, as shown in F ig. l, or otherwise, is so shaped that where its contour is bent from the circular shape as at d toward the center of the button as at cl2, it will pass closely to the lateral edges of the sewing apertures e. In other words, the spring is so bent that it will have a plurality of bends in it, each of which will be composed of three portions, of which two are spaced apart a distance approximating but only slightly exceeding the width of the sewing apertures, while the third lies in a position close to one of the other edges of the needlehole in Fig. l. The three bent portions, just referred to, will correspond to the positions of d', cl, d. A spring thus bent may also be advantageously used with buttons of different shapes from the one shown.

It is apparent that other machinery than the one particularly described may be employed so that the metal blank may be dealt with in other ways than as specifically described, for example, theblank might be shaped, cupped and perforated before being cut but, in that case, as in the method more particularly described hereinabove, the four requirements specified by me at the beginning of the specification would still be satisfied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A snap fastener element having a continuous rolled edge and sewing apertures, said edge being non-circular and nearer the center of the fastener element at those parts thereof which are located between the sewing apertures, the configuration and location of the saidi rolled edge being such that it is closely adjacent to both the outer and lateral edges of the sewing apertures.

In testimony whereof lI have hereunto set my hand.

JULIUS J. BRELL. 

